PSPINC Official Company Blog

Impact of Website SEO with Search Engines: Page Speed

Feb

16

Last time we spoke about the impact of keywords on your website SEO. If you didn’t get a chance to read that article, we encourage you to go back and check it out.

Today we are going to discuss the role page speed plays in SEO. Often, people put less value on the page speed of their website compared with the content, keywords, and design. However, if your page loads really slow, it will affect your search ranking.

What’s going to happen if my page speed is slow?

Users are looking to get information immediately when they click a link. If the page takes too long to load, they will most likely leave your website. This will increase your “Bounce Rate”, Google may also grade your reputation as bad for lack of usability. Google research in 2018 showed that if your page takes more than 2 seconds to load, the “Bounce Rate” would increase by up to 32%.

How can I improve my page speed?

Image file compression

Large file sizes of images make websites load slowly and will cause a negative user experience. Image compression is the process of using compression algorithms to reduce the file size of an image file. There are a number of tools online for compressing images that you can find by searching for ‘online image compressing tools’. Professional programs like Adobe Photoshop are also more than capable of handling advanced image compression.

Browser caching

A web browser’s cache is what web browsers use to save data such as images that are needed to view your website. Saving this data allows the browser to load your website faster and more efficiently. When building a website if you define a longer cache for your assets that don’t change frequently, your web browser will store the information longer and further enhance your browser’s loading speed.

Lazy load images

Another solution is to delay loading images using JavaScript. Lazy loading images means you load images on your website asynchronously. After the above-the-fold content is fully loaded, the remaining images will only be loaded when they come into your browser’s viewport. This means that if users don’t scroll all of the ways down, images placed at the bottom of the page won’t be loaded. This lowers the time it takes for your page to initially load

Use fewer images and resource-heavy assets

The more images, videos, and 3rd party scripts/plugins you use, the longer it will take for your page to load. Try to have your website operate as leanly as possible. Using CSS to style text-based buttons instead of relying on images is an example of things you can do to make your site not only more accessible but run faster!

These are just a few tips for making your page load faster. A lot of these are best handled by professional Web Designers & Developers, so don’t be discouraged if these terms seem overly technical. At PSPinc, we have professional Designers and Developers who are knowledgeable of SEO and sophisticated web design! If you need help building a new website or updating an existing one, please let us know. We would love to talk to you about it further!

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPinc Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#PacificSoftwarePublishing #PSPINC #WebandEmailHosting #SeattleBellevue #SoftwareDevelopment #WebDevelopment #ApplicationDevelopment #Bloguru

#PSPinc #PageSpeed #SEO #Website

Website Etiquette your Business Needs to Know

Feb

13

image source: pixabay.com

Last week we talked about the importance of having a company privacy policy visible to customers on your website. Today let’s discuss more etiquette to consider when it comes to your website:

1) Is your contact information easy for customers to find?

If you don’t have a customer service or info email on your homepage, have an online form for customers to fill out. It’s actually better to not list your email address on your homepage as spammers tend to grab those.

2) Does your website load quickly?

Do not load your website with too many images or videos. It won’t matter how pretty those images are if your website loads slowly, because people will not wait to see it. We are impatient beings and you can expect your bounce rate to skyrocket. Have a good balance of content and visual appeal without overdoing large files that slow down your load time.

3) Is it easy to navigate through the site?

Be kind to your visitors and make sure your navigation is easy to follow. You may know your business well but your visitors don’t, so be thoughtful when organizing your layout and navigation. It may be worth asking for some feedback from new customers to see how easy it was for them to navigate your site. Again, people have little tolerance and patience for getting lost online.

4) Have you tested your site?

The simplest way to make sure your website is user friendly is to test it with a focus group. Sometimes we’re “too close” to the product to understand how others experience it. Consider asking some outsiders (friends, family, business associates) to check your site and provide feedback so you can update accordingly.

If you would like a professional analysis of your website, contact us at PSPinc. We can do a free evaluation and give you some pointers for improvement. Contact us toll free at 1-800-232-3989.

#Blog #BusinessTips #ENnews #PSPinc #SmallBusiness #Technology #WebDevelopment #Website #WebsiteTips

Happy Halloween

Oct

31

Beautiful team.

#blog #businesstips #ennews #pacificsoftwarepublishing #pspinc #smallbusiness #technology #webhosting #website #webtools

5 Frightening Web Design Mistakes

Oct

31

image source: pixabay.com

Happy Halloween! To honor this frightfully fun day, we thought it would be a good idea to continue our website tips by giving a list of frightening design mistakes you should avoid. Let’s begin:

1. Confusing message. If your customers can’t tell who you are and what you do within the first few seconds visiting your site, why would they stick around? Make it clear right away what you do and what you sell.

2. Too much text. Okay too much of anything is bad. You can have too much text, too much white space, too many images, too many fonts, too many colors. This is where templates come in handy. A template can guide you in the fonts and spacing; you just need to add some high-quality content and imagery.

3. Hidden contact info. Your email, phone, address, or a contact form should be easy to find and readily available to people. If not, you may lose their trust.

4. Not mobile-friendly. A responsive design is a must-have. Your website should be easily viewable on all devices. Don’t expect that people are only searching and viewing your website from a PC.

5. No privacy policy. People may not take the time to read it, but for many of them, it’s a comfort just to know you have a plan in place for keeping their data secure. Get a GDPR approved privacy policy on your site asap.

Hopefully you’ve come away this month with some great ideas for designing or refreshing your company’s website. If you’d like to talk to the professionals, give us a call at PSPinc about customizing a site to your needs. We are here to make sure you have a great experience and come away with a BOO-tiful website!

#Blog #BusinessTips #ENnews #PSPinc #SmallBusiness #Technology #WebDesign #WebHosting #Website

Your Website: More Improvement Tips

Oct

24

image source: pixabay.com

All month long we’ve been giving tips on how to improve the look, feel and functionality of your website. The end goal is to create a site customers feel comfortable navigating.

If your business is brand new, this might be a good time to consider getting a professionally-designed logo. Logo design comes in several forms for several budgets, depending on the extent of what you need. You can hire a graphic designer to quickly create something, or you can hire a branding expert to not only design your logo, but really analyze your brand as whole.

Logo design isn’t just for startup companies. Perhaps your business has been around a long time and your logo could use an update. Just like images should be crystal clear and high quality, so should your logo.

The next thing to consider is website layout. We have templates you can choose from, which takes all the guesswork out of layout and fonts and white space and the things mentioned in our previous blog post. Customizing a template website is a great way to create a professional, organized website for your business. Learn more about WebdeXpress today.

Finally, people won’t stay on your website very long if they don’t think it’s secure. Make sure your website is secured by a Secure Socket Layer (SSL or TLS) certificate. A secure website with encryption technology is marked by a little lock icon in the URL. If the lock isn’t there, the URL line will advertise “Not secure,” and you can be sure to lose visitors really fast.

#Blog #BusinessTips #ENnews #PSPinc #SmallBusiness #Technology #WebDesign #WebHosting #Website

DIY a Professional Website

Oct

3

In 2019 a professional website is easy to come by at just about any budget. Even if you don’t sell online and have no need for an e-commerce site, your brick and mortar store should still have an online presence – otherwise you may be selling yourself short. You may be missing out on exposure from potential customers who are searching online for a business like yours.

A website doesn’t have to be elaborate with many pages or functionalities. It can be a few simple pages with great imagery, information about your business, and contact information for how and where you can be reached.

Let’s say you own a small yoga studio. A website would serve as a place where people can learn about the different types of classes you offer with details about your schedule, rates, location, contact info, liability info, photos of your studio, info on what to wear or bring, and more. For people who find your website online, you’ve just answered a lot of questions for them before they ever stepped foot inside your building. Your website is your best opportunity for a great first impression.

At PSP, we have a smart program called Dreamersi, offering web and email hosting for just $250 a year. This plan includes:

- Free domain with hosting plan
- 1 Website
- 10 GB Web Space
- Free WebdeXpress Website Builder
- Easy WordPress Install
- Website Reporting
- SSL Certificate (add-on)
- Secure Hosting Environment
- 24/7 Monitoring
- 10 GB Email Space
- Unlimited Email Accounts
- Online Webmail
- Website & Email Backup
- Privacy Protection (add-on)

We’ve made it easy to get your website up and running. You can choose to build it yourself, or if you prefer help, let’s talk about customization options. We’re here to get your business noticed online. Follow along this month as we continue to give tips on designing a smart website for your small business.

#Blog #BusinessTips #ENnews #PSPinc #SmallBusiness #Technology #WebHosting #WebTools #Website

What is Responsive Web Design?

May

28

image source: pixabay.com

Responsive design is a technique used by web designers where the pages of a website “respond” and reconfigure to a mobile-friendly view on whatever device is being used. Not too long ago, designers had to create one website for desktop and a separate one for mobile. The mobile website was usually a watered-down version of the main site – but times have changed.

Even before Google announced mobile-first indexing, web designers were already transitioning to a single website that worked across all devices. They do this by using fluid and proportion-based grids that adjust their size by a percentage relative to the display size.

This type of web design has become the standard for how websites are built today. And this is because of the increase in smartphone and tablet users, which now make up over half of all website visitors.

One major issue that designers have to deal with when designing responsive websites is mouse vs. touch. A website displayed on a desktop is navigated using a mouse but mobile devices use our thumbs. Designers have to build a website that responds and adapts to the display size while still making the site easy to navigate.

According to a Pew study, 77% of Americans now own a smartphone, which is more than double the number of smartphone owners in 2011. If you track your website traffic, look at the devices that your website visitors are coming from. You’ll probably be surprised at the amount of mobile users. If you don’t have a responsive website you should consider building one to make the best use of it.

For more information about responsive web design watch our video below:

#Blog #BusinessTips #ENnews #PSPinc #ResponsiveWebsites #SmallBusiness #Technology #WebDesign #Website

9 Things Every Small Business Website Should Have

Mar

19

image source: pixabay.com

As a business, you want to make sure your office or storefront looks professional. You may apply a new coat of paint, add lighting and signage where it’s needed. You do this because you know your appearance has an effect on people’s opinion of your business. Well, the same concept applies to your online business.

Below, we share 9 elements that every website needs to put its best foot forward.

A Clear Description

When someone visits your website, they shouldn’t have to dig through pages to learn who you are and what your business does. State your business name clearly and sum up your products or services on the homepage. Don’t put everything on your homepage, just enough to give visitors adequate information about your business so they can decide if they’re on the right site.

Easy Website Address

When choosing a web address, note two things: Make it memorable and keep it short. If your web address is complex and long, your visitors might forget what to type in or misspell it. Keep it simple and try to avoid dashes, if possible.

Simple Navigation

So you don’t know how to code or anything about web design. Great! Keep your website simple and easy to navigate. Worry less about how pretty your website looks; instead make it easy to navigate and chock-full of great information about your business.

Clear Contact Information

It sounds silly, but you’d be surprised how many websites don’t have a clear description of the business or any way to be contacted. Contact information should be one of the top priorities when building a website. A clear and obvious section that contains your phone number, address, business hours, and email info can make a huge difference.

If you can, add a contact form on your website to make it even easier for visitors to contact you.

Customer Testimonials

Establish trust and legitimacy with new visitors by adding testimonials to your website. People love to hear from other people about their stories and experiences with a company. If you don’t have any testimonials, start asking your current or past customers to leave one on Google or Yelp. In exchange, you can offer to link to their businesses website from the testimonial they give you.

Call to Action

Each page on your website should serve a purpose and that purpose should have a ‘call to action’. What is the purpose of your homepage? It might be to inform visitors about your business and give them a way to learn more about your products/service. So in this case, you should have a call to action that leads visitors to your product/service information.

If the purpose of your product page is to lead customers to your contact page, have a call to action that links them to the contact page.

Fresh Content

Updating your website with new quality content frequently will not only help your SEO, it will also give visitors the most up-to-date information. Websites that have old and outdated information reflect poorly on the business.

Links to Social

Your business should be on social media as another means to reach potential customers online. A great way to grow your social channels is to include icons on your website that link to your social pages.

Secure Hosting

Often overlooked, a secure hosting platform can make a huge difference when it comes to your website. Small businesses that collect user information need to protect themselves and their customers. It’s important to find a trustworthy hosting company that will keep your websites protected from hacker attacks.

Dreamersi is a product of PSPinc and offers secure hosting packages and SSL certificates that ensure your site is protected at all times.